14 Tuscaloosa Co EQIP Executive Summary

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, is holding a signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for the 2014 Fiscal Year. This signup is held on a continuous basis.

Any eligible landuser who has a resource concern or problem on pastureland, cropland, forestland, or hay land may apply for assistance through this program.

All applications will be ranked according to the national 2014 EQIP ranking tool. An applicant will only be able to apply for one resource concern in the county-wide fund pool, but may apply in as many state-wide funding pools as he/she is eligible.

The USDA work group has prioritized the resource concerns in Tuscaloosa County as:

Grazing Lands

Erosion/Soil Quality

Forestry and Wildlife

Water Quality/Animal Waste

Irrigation Water Management

Applicants will be given a priority ranking within each resource concern based upon the cost of the contract.

Applications will then be funded using an alternating resource concern method, which will fund the highest ranked applicant, in the HIGH priority, in the first resource concern. The next to be funded will be the highest ranking applicant, in the HIGH priority, in the second resource concern, and so on until all HIGH priority applicants are funded. Then, the highest ranked applicant, in the MEDIUM priority, in the first resource concern, followed by the highest ranked applicant, in the MEDIUM priority in the second resource concern, and so on until all MEDIUM priority applicants are funded. LOW priority applicants will be funded in the same way. In case of a tie in the ranking and priority the application with the least amount of money to fund the contract will be funded first.

The first batching period for ranking and prioritizing applications will end October 18, 2013. Additional batching periods will be used, if funds remain available. Any application filed after a batching date will be considered in the next pool of funding.

All conservation practices will be the same as in the 2014 Alabama NRCS state approved EQIP Practice and Payment Schedule. Planned conservation practices used to address the resource concerns will come from this list, as will the resulting payment rate for these practices. Limited Resource Farmers, New and Beginning Farmers, and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers will be paid at an increased payment rate.

Limitations

Long leaf trees planted under the Forest Health and Wildlife Resource Concern are restricted to containerized seedlings.

For ranking purposes the application of practices 490 (Tree/Shrub Site Preparation), 612 (Tree/Shrub Establishment), 643 (Restoration and Management of Rare and Declining Species), 338 (Prescribed Burning), and 394 (Firebreak) will be considered as a single practice.

For ranking purposes the application of practices 642 (Water Well), 614 (Watering Facility), and 516 (Pipeline) will be considered as a single practice.

The application of practices 338 (Prescribed Burn) and 394 (Firebreak) will be considered a single practice.